The Catalan woman freed from life imprisonment in Oman: "I won't waste this second chance at life."

BarcelonaIt's been 48 hours since Fátima Ofkir landed at Barcelona airport to return home to Hospitalet de Llobregat. The family and friends who welcomed her had been waiting for her for years. Ofkir has spent seven years—since she was 18—in a women's prison in Oman, sentenced to life imprisonment for bringing a suitcase containing seven kilos of morphine to that country. This Tuesday, she spoke publicly about what she experienced, for the first time since her release following an amnesty. "I will not waste this second chance at life, and I will do a service to society," she told the fifty media outlets who came to hear her.

"Thank you to everyone who has contributed so that I could get out," she said through tears. In the letter she had prepared for the press conference, she said that after these seven years in prison, she feels "a transformed person." Her goal is to study law starting in September and be an example to "help every young person who is lost and doesn't know who to trust."

After seven years in prison, Ofkir speaks seven languages and has also studied psychology textbooks, which have helped her when she thought she "wouldn't be able to get ahead." "There are times when it's hard, but every time I thought I couldn't take it anymore or wanted to throw in the towel, Mónica has always given me that 'little bit more,'" she said, referring to the lawyer Mónica Santiago, who has defended her for free.

"A mistake that led me to live in hell"

In prison, she was forced to wear a burqa and pray five times a day, and was only allowed to speak to her family by phone for one minute every two weeks. She described the experience as "a bit hard, a bit much," and the reasons that led her to prison as "a youthful mistake."

Ofkir was sentenced to life in prison after being recruited by a drug trafficking network in Spain. A "false friend" convinced her in the summer of 2018 to travel to Oman and deliver a package to a hotel in Muscat, the country's capital. It contained seven kilos of morphine. Omani police, who had already tracked the network, found the drug shipment in a closet and arrested her. "I let myself be seduced by easy money and empty promises from those who called themselves friends of mine. A mistake that led me to live a life of hell," she said, adding: "I have learned my lesson, more than learned."

A drug trafficking offense like this would carry a four to five year prison sentence in Spain, but in Oman it's punishable by life imprisonment. When he was 18, Ofkir said, he was surrounded by bad influences, family problems, and "the peak of his life." "At that age, we believe we're cool and that we can take on the world... and in the end I ate nothing but Omani bread," she joked. "That Fatima," she stated, "is no longer with us, and now she assures us that she is much more focused.

Legal and diplomatic efforts

After years of legal and diplomatic efforts, Ofkir has been included in the amnesty the Sultan grants each year after Ramadan. Two of the people involved in the negotiations were businessman Antonio Sagnier and former judge Baltasar Garzón, both present at Tuesday's event. They also pointed out the involvement of the Spanish Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, in addition to various entities.

During the press conference, Ofkir also recalled her bad experience with her first lawyer, who "contributed" to her ending up sentenced to life in prison. When she was arrested, she chose the only lawyer with a Spanish name from a list provided by the embassy, and he turned out to be an unlicensed law graduate who made "very serious errors in the judicial procedure," according to the Vosseler Advocats firm, which now represents the young woman. In fact, he simply collected the money raised by Fatima's family in Spain, without diligently covering the case in a trial in which Ofkir was completely helpless, without knowing Arabic or understanding anything of what was happening.